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The earliest Women’s Day observance was held on February 28, 1909, in New York and organized by the Socialist Party of America. It started as International Working Women’s Day. Somehow this is connected with the rise of socialism in society and also as a result of male shortages after two world wars, that women were forced to do men’s work. Particularly in countries that were hardest hit by those wars: Russia, Germany. After the almost complete destruction of my homeland workers were needed to re-construct. We called them Trümmerfrauen [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C3%BCmmerfrau ] women who cleared the rubble left by Allied aerial bombings and started with shovel, pick and axe to rebuild, in the absence of men (fallen at the front lines).

I admire more than anything Russia’s women, who as early as 1907 started revolutionary movements against the Russian Monarchy, resulting in the abdication of Czar Nicholas II, and beginning the Russian revolution, March 8, 1917. More on feminist reforms from 1850 to 1917 in Russia [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Russia ]. While the rest of the world needed to wait to get women into the actual forefront of becoming real laborers. Talking about those who don’t wait for some husband to carry out the garbage or drive the car.

The right to vote is not all that makes a woman more equal than a man. Hard labor is, equal labor is and taking the same decisions as any man, even when married. I always feel when a woman is married, she can never be quite equal. Only when she needs to work to survive, or when she is by circumstance a single mother. How does voting right enables a woman to become more equal if she is still under male guardianship, like in Saudi Arabia, where dress codes are imposed and enforced.

In North America, today’s women’s rights movement is more about fighting for pay equality, getting more women into board rooms, or the military. Although military means that women soldiers must suffer sexual abuse by male soldiers. What do they do ? complain to their commanders. Meaning that they are not equal to men, else they would help themselves.